From Fiddler on the Roof to Purim pageants, there’s no denying that performance has a vital role to play in Jewish culture. Since 2006, the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company has capitalized on that tradition, allowing Toronto’s Jewish theatre scene to thrive. The group has just announced its fifth season, and it’s a pretty impressive lineup, with boldface names like Hannah Moscovitch, Eugene Levy and Mandy Patinkin.

Just in time for Rosh Hashanah, film, TV and Broadway veteran Patinkin will open the 2011­–12 season with two performances of Mamaloshen (which translates to “mother tongue”). Patinkin, known to some as Inigo Montoya, is planning an evening of Yiddish music ranging from classics to interpretations of Paul Simon tunes.

Plays form the meat of the season, including The Children’s Republic, a new show by acclaimed Canadian bard Moscovitch. The production will star Peter Hutt as children’s rights activist Dr. Janusz Korczak. The off-Broadway comedy Circumcise Me, about a Catholic-born convert to Judaism, is also slated for a two-week run. Finally, Mrs. Cunningham herself, Marion Ross, will star in an adaptation of Neil Simon’s Tony Award­–winning Lost In Yonkers.

Complementing the theatrical lineup is the company’s Conversations on the Green series—think of it as a Jewish version of Inside the Actors Studio. Hosted by Ralph Benmergui, the series will feature tête-à-têtes with Ross, comedian Levy, former Jays owner and politician Paul Godfrey and diplomat Stephen Lewis.

In addition to presenting this star-studded lineup, the company will be upgrading its digs this season, taking residency at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts’ Jane Mallett Theatre.